The Hole in the Rooftop Solar-Panel Craze

Large-scale plants make sense, but panels for houses simply transfer wealth from average electric customers.

By

Brian H. Potts

May 17, 2015 5:52 pm ET

Most people buy rooftop solar panels because they think it will save them money or make them green, or both. But the truth is that rooftop solar shouldn’t be saving them money (though it often does), and it almost certainly isn’t green. In fact, the rooftop-solar craze is wasting billions of dollars a year that could be spent on greener initiatives. It also is hindering the growth of much more cost-effective renewable sources of power.

According to a recent Energy Department-backed study at North Carolina State University,...